Christmas Cranberry Vodka Slush

Click Say “Hello!” to your favourite new winter cocktail. Made with just 3 simple ingredients and taking just 2 minutes to prep, this Christmas cranberry vodka slush is just the type of cocktail you need during the festive season when your house is full of guests, the turkey should have come out of the oven 10 minutes ago and you’ve still got some wrapping to do!

Whenever I make this Christmas cranberry vodka slush (i.e. every year – it’s that good!) my mind always drifts back to the first time I made it a few years ago. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were spending two weeks with us for Christmas and five days or so in, things we’re getting a little…tense. So I poured us each a glass of this Christmas cocktail to help us relax, unwind and possibly even be kind to each other.

My boyfriend put on a great mix of Christmas music. Some modern stuff, some classic hits, some religious hymns…a little bit of everything. The thing is, “a little bit of everything” also included some more…ahem…adult songs that my boyfriend swore to me he had deleted before playing in front of his 60+ year old mother.

Each of us got distracted doing something or other, then my MIL piped up “Oh, I love this one!” We all stopped what we were doing and listened to the song she loved so much:

(Warning: lyrics of a somewhat mature nature are about to appear on your screen)

“Stroke on my,

Lick on my,

Suck on my…”

To the tune of Jingle Bell Rock.

About half way through the lyrics above, my boyfriend, SIL and I all locked eyes, the exact same look of pure panic on our faces as we manicallyclambered over each other trying to grab the mouse first in an effort to stop the song ASAP!

We didn’t get there in time, but thankfully my MIL was too into singing the traditional lyrics to the song that we don’t think she heard the version blasting out of the speakers. And that was the last time we ever played songs from that music folder in front of family guests.

So each year when I make my first batch of Christmas cranberry vodka slush, I always find myself chuckling as I remember that scene. The two weeks overall were utter hell, but that highlight arguably made it all worth it. You know what they say – it’s the little things that count, right?

Anyway, where I live, it’s usually around 86F/30C during Christmas, so sipping a slushy vodka cocktail over the festive season is pretty awesome. If you get the same thing where you are, I bet your family (or friends, if you’re cool enough to have just friends over for Christmas) would love this strawberry vodka slush or lemon vodka slush. Not very traditional, but seriously yummy!

I get that if you’re surrounded by snow all winter you probably don’t want to be drinking something slushy and icy over Christmas. In which case, I bet you’ll go a bundle on my vodka-spiked mulled wine! Or if you’re looking for something a little different, maybe something a bit more tropical, how about mulled sangria?